The Dance Floor Is Our Archive: Where memory lives in motion.
Part of Dance Umbrella Festival, 24 October 2026 at Rich Mix
Touch the Floor is a multidisciplinary curatorial programme exploring the history, evolution & lasting influence of Black British music cultures through the informal spaces where people gathered, danced, connected & built community. At its heart, the programme celebrates movement & collective dance as powerful forms of expression, connection & cultural exchange, exploring how dance floors have created spaces of joy, resistance, belonging & creativity across generations.
Curated by Dance Umbrella 2026 Guest Curator Anthea Lewis (Blulilli Projects), Touch the Floor examines how music, movement & shared dance experiences have shaped individual lives & collective memory, carrying stories, traditions & cultural knowledge from one generation to the next.
Photo montage from Anthea Lewis’s collection & Dawn Estefan.
Taking place at Rich Mix on 24 October, the programme brings together artists, dancers, DJs, academics, archivists & audiences for a day of performances, conversations, movement workshops, lecture demonstrations, communal archiving, oral history sharing, creative activities & a social dance event. Audiences are invited to actively participate by dancing, sharing memories, photographs, stories & reflections, contributing to a living archive that recognises movement, music & lived experience as vital forms of cultural heritage.
Alongside celebrating these rich histories, Touch the Floor explores community-led archival practices, asking how collective dance, embodied knowledge & shared experiences can be documented, preserved & cared for, ensuring these living histories remain accessible & continue to inspire future generations.
“Though we have all encountered our share of grief and troubles, we can still hold the line of beauty, form, and beat — no small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one. Hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is the proof.”
‘Hard Times Require Furious Dancing’ by Alice Walker
Progamme to be announced soon….
Blulilli Projects 